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American Dragon: Jake Long
American Dragon: Jake Long is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jeff Goode for Comedy Central. The series follows 13-year-old Jake Long (Dante Basco) who must balance ordinary adolescent transformation with the amazing power and ability to change into the form of a dragon who has to overcome obstacles to protect the magical creatures living in the city. Jake navigates the city with fellow skateboarders Trixie (Miss Kittie) and Spud (Charlie Finn) with help from his maternal grandfather (Keone Young), his Grandpa's gruff sidekick, a magical Shar-Pei named Fu Dog (John DiMaggio) and the love of his life Rose (Mae Whitman). Like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, and Rick and Morty, American Dragon: Jake Long was designed for mature audiences and features violence, adult humor, profanity, running gags, and pop culture references. The series was pitched to Comedy Central in 2002. The company had greenlit the series for production in 2003 after the pilot was completed for Comedy Central. The series was originally supposed to air in 2003 on MTV but the show was held back until 2 years later due to behind-the-scenes issues with Comedy Central, as well as delays. Episodes are produced at Winking Pooh Entertainment, Goode's production company. Since its debut on January 19, 2005, TBA episodes of American Dragon: Jake Long ''have been broadcast. In 2013, ''TV Guide ranked American Dragon: Jake Long ''the thirtieth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time. The show is rated TV-MA for for reasons that include but not limited to use of strong/offensive language, aberrational behavior, and extreme violence/drug use. Premise Set in the New York City borough of Manhattan, this animated series tells the story of Jake Long (voiced by Dante Basco), who must balance ordinary adolescence with the power and ability to change into a dragon. When he eventually unlocks his full potential and turns into the American Dragon, he has to overcome obstacles to protect the magical creatures living in the city, but as his ordinary self, Jake has issues with his crush on his schoolmate Rose (Mae Whitman) who, unbeknownst to Jake, has a dark, magical secret of her own: she is a natural dragon slayer known as the Huntsgirl, a member of the Huntsclan that slays dragons. The leader of the Huntsclan is the Huntsman (Jeff Bennett). Jake navigates the city with his two best friends - Trixie Carter (Miss Kittie), a witty, blunt, and sharp-tongued girl who is usually the most logical and mature of the group; and Arthur P. "Spud" Spudinski (Charlie Finn), who appears to be slow-witted but is actually a genius. When Jake gets home, it is to an extended family: Jonathan (Jeff Bennett), a businessman dad originally from the Midwest who is unaware that he is married into a family of dragons from his Chinese wife named Susan (Lauren Tom) (who cannot turn into a dragon as the power skipped her generation). Jake's maternal grandfather Lao Shi (Keone Young) trains his grandson in the magical, mystical ways of the ancient dragons. Other characters include Jake's younger sister Haley (Amy Bruckner) (a nascent dragon), and Grandpa's cynical sidekick who's also Jake's animal guardian and another best friend, a magical Shar-Pei named Fu Dog (John DiMaggio). Characters , Rose, Arthur Spudinski, and Trixie Carter. ]]''Main article: List of American Dragon: Jake Long characters * Jacob "Jake" Luke Long (Dante Basco): The titular protagonist of the show. Jake is a proud, lazy skateboarder who is, in secret, a dragon. He uses his duties as a dragon, to help defend the underground magical world of New York City, while continuing his training into becoming the American Dragon. Another one of his duties is to protect other dragons from people who want to harm them. He spends much of his time with his friends and trying to impress love interest and part-time girlfriend Rose. He also likes to think of good schemes, along with the rest of his friends. Out of all the characters, Jake saw the most appearances and character development throughout the series. Jake's love for Rose is a recurring theme throughout the series. * Trixie Carter (Kittie): Jake's best friend. She is sassy, vivacious, and is somewhat of a tomboyish character. She is a fashion enthusiast, though does not necessarily partake in typical "girl" wear. In the situation of Jake and Rose's relationship, Trixie always showed a dislike and distrust towards Rose, advising Jake to be wary around her. She occasionally refers to herself as 'Mama Trixie'. Trixie is also a fan of the fictional Japanese anime My Boyfriend Koibito Mitt, as she is obsessed with anime and manga sometimes. * Arthur "Spud" P. Spudinski (Charlie Finn): Spud is Jake's other best friend and is extremely loyal. Although apparently slow-witted, he often comes up with intelligent things to say at random times, much like the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He owns a laptop computer that sports surveillance capabilities and other functions. In "Bring It On", he developed a global-positioning device to track his cheerleader crush, Stacey. * Rose (Mae Whitman): Rose, Jake's paramour and a member of the Huntsclan. There is a birthmark on her right palm and wrist resembling a Chinese dragon, otherwise known as the "Mark of the Huntsclan". Jake eventually learns of her secret identity as the Huntsgirl. She, in turn, eventually learns that Jake is the American Dragon (see "The Hunted"). Contrary to expectation, Rose helps Jake in the show. * Lao Shi (Keone Young): Jake's grandpa and Dragon Master. Lao is a Chinese dragon. He runs the Canal Street Electronics shop and his only friend is Fu Dog. His attempts at training Jake sometimes causes more damage than help. His name is a play on the Mandarin Chinese word for "teacher". Jake's nickname for him is "gramps". * Fu Dog (John DiMaggio): Fu is a 600-year-old talking anthropomorphic shar pei and Lao's only companion. Like many cartoon animals, Fu is able to walk upright, and has no trouble using his front paws as hands, despite the apparent absence of opposable thumbs. He's particularly skilled at potion-mixing. Despite his age, he frequently keeps up-to-date with current trends and events, occasionally putting him at odds with Lao Shi. * Haley Kay Long (Tara Strong): Haley is Jake's seven-year-old younger (eight years old in the second season) sister, who is quite intelligent, talented, a bit of a perfectionist, and a goody-two-shoes (much to Jake's consistent annoyance). Haley goes to a school for advanced youths and actually tries hard to succeed. She is also quick to point out Jake's faults and make herself look superior to him. Yet, deep down, she looks up to him. Unlike Jake, she began developing her dragon powers at an earlier age. In the first season she is a purple dragon, in the second season she is pink. As his sister, she is actually next in line to be the American Dragon. Her mentor is Sun Park, though her training is quite different from Jake's. * The Huntsman (Tom McGrath): Jake's main enemy, the Huntsman (referred to as "Huntsmaster" by his subordinates) is the leader of the Huntsclan. The Dragon Council rates him as the #4 threat to the magical community. Secondary Characters Dragon Training Because other magical creatures look up to dragons for leadership and guidance, the dragons of the world have become official protectors of the magical realm. Using their powers, strength, and abilities, the dragons of the world have formed a union of sorts and strive to protect magical creatures and the world around them and to keep normal humans from becoming aware of any magical creatures and the magical world. In many ways the dragons of American Dragon: Jake Long, are similar to the Jedi Knights of Star Wars. The Teacher and Student Older and more experienced dragons can be appointed as "Dragon Masters," coaches to younger and less experienced generations of dragons, their "Dragon Student." One traditional rule the Dragon Council follows is that the student and teacher should not be related. One exception to this rule is the Student/Teacher relationship between Jake Long and his grandfather, Lao Shi. Lao Shi personally asked the Dragon Council if he could train Jake himself since he believed that one day the Dark Dragon would return and that Jake would have to face him. The Council reluctantly agreed but only on a strict basis. Also, students who are unable to learn sufficiently enough from their teachers are transferred to a new Dragon Master. The Dragon Council tests the progress of students through three tests that three of the Council members personally administrate. The Test of Judgment in Fire (Councilor Kulde administrates this one): This trial tests the dragon student's use of judgment. In this trial, the student is guided into a warehouse where they are assaulted by ice sculptures depicting various different creatures (magical and non-magical alike), but the student must only use their fire breath to melt only the sculptures that would pose a threat. The Test of Wisdom in Battle (Councilor Andam administers this one): This trial tests the dragon's knowledge of magical creatures and the magical world. In this trial, Councilor Andam pits the Dragon student against another magical creature of his choosing. If the student is able to overcome their opponent, they pass the test. The Test of Courage in Flight (Councilor Chang administrated this one, although she may no longer do so because of her imprisonment): This trial puts many of the dragon student's abilities to the test. In this test, the student must make their way through an obstacle course set up around Draco Island and must fly through three rings. Not only that, but the student must also compete against another dragon, whom the student has the option of choosing. If the student is able to fly through all three rings and complete the course before their opponent, they pass the test. Rules Dragons follow a strict set of rules. Most importantly, a dragon must not allow humans to become aware of magical creatures and their world, including themselves. When humans become aware, the dragons must then erase all knowledge (and sometimes traces of) any information of their being magical creatures. Secondly, a dragon must not use their dragon powers for personal gain. A running gag in the show is that Jake ends up breaking this rule constantly, although most of the time inadvertently. Jake also seems to be a rebel against certain rules, such as when Trixie and Spud found out about his and his grandpa's identities, Jake was asked to use a memory-erasing potion on them, but refused ("Professor Rotwood's Thesis"). Jake also uses his powers for personal gain a great deal of the time, such as using his ability to shapeshift, which landed him in trouble in "Dragon Summit". Episodes Main article: List of American Dragon: Jake Long episodes Production Development American Dragon: Jake Long was created by Jeff Goode, who also created the hit MTV series Undressed. So while working on it during production on Undressed, he pitched the idea to MTV, however they turned it down, telling him that it looked similar to Ren and Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life, which contained too adult humor, and it would work better as an adult cartoon. In February 2002, he pitched the idea to Comedy Central. Comedy Central accepted it and gave the greenlight to the show 2 months later. The series was originally supposed to air in 2003 on MTV but the show was held back until 2000 due to behind-the-scenes issues with Comedy Central, as well as delays. Animation The show is animated by 7 animation studios from around the world. These consist of Film Roman, Rough Draft Korea, AKOM, Wang Film Productions, Toon City Animation, Yeson Entertainment, and Yearim Productions. The title sequence is animated between Digital eMation (the first part) and TMS Entertainment (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) (the rest of the sequence). Layouts Layouts for the show were designed at Bardel Entertainment. Category:TV Shows Category:EvanRocks Wiki